Tag: taxes

The 2026 tax season is officially in the books — the IRS began accepting 2025 returns on January 26, 2026, and the April 15 filing deadline has passed. If you filed on time (or on extension), you're done until next year. We now look ahead to the 2027 tax season…

Every December, I go through the same three-step process on my taxable brokerage accounts: figure out where my realized gains and losses stand, decide what to sell to offset them, and recheck the numbers before December 31. It's one of the simplest, most repeatable tax moves available to any investor…

TurboTax is still the most widely used tax software in the country. For tax year 2025 (filed in 2026), it has made some real changes worth knowing before you pay — or decide to go elsewhere. The product lineup has been simplified, there are new deductions under the One Big…

The 2027 COLA estimate has narrowed to 3.5%–3.6% as of late September. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) calls its 3.5% projection its final forecast before the official number arrives on October 14. The 2026 COLA is already confirmed at 2.8%, effective January 2026. I've also kept the latest Trustees Report…

With millions of tax filers anxiously waiting for their refund — often the largest single payment they receive all year — it's not uncommon to hear frustration with the IRS systems designed to provide updates on tax processing and refund payments. The official Where's My Refund (WMR) site and IRS2Go…

The Roth IRA contribution limit for 2026 is $7,500 — up from $7,000 in 2025. If you're 50 or older, you can add a $1,100 catch-up contribution (now indexed for inflation under SECURE 2.0), bringing your total to $8,600. The income phase-out ranges have also shifted up slightly for 2026.…

If you're past the tax deadline and haven't filed, the single most important thing to know is this: filing late costs far more than paying late. Even if you can't pay your full tax bill, filing your return or an extension on time avoids the harshest IRS penalty. The Two…

For 2026, the IRA contribution limit is $7,500 — the first increase from the $7,000 limit that held for 2024 and 2025. Whether you're putting money into a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA, that's your combined ceiling across all IRA accounts. The IRS announced this increase in IR-2025-111, along…

If you've ever had a 401(k) at one job and a 403(b) at the next, you've probably wondered whether the IRS treats them as the same thing. Mostly, yes — 401(k), 403(b), and TSP plans all share one combined $24,500 employee deferral limit for 2026. The exception is the 457(b),…

Tax return processing and refund payments continue to be bumpy this year given IRS budget cuts and introduction of several tax changes under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). The IRS started the 2026 season roughly 2 million returns behind on backlog, and a February 2026 Treasury Inspector General report…

The IRS officially raised retirement plan contribution limits for 2026 in IRS Notice IR-2025-111, announced in November 2025. Most of the increases are driven by COLA adjustments under SECURE 2.0. Here's the full rundown of what changed and what it means for your retirement savings this year. 2026 401(k), 403(b),…

Living abroad doesn't get you out of filing a US tax return. As a US citizen or resident alien, you're required to report your worldwide income every year, no matter where you earned it or whether you already paid tax on it somewhere else. The good news is the IRS…

Your filing status is decided by one date: December 31. Whatever your marital and household situation looks like on that day determines which of the five IRS filing statuses you can use for the entire year, even if your situation changed on December 30. That single rule trips up more…